Аахен

Aachen is an ancient German city (Latin Aquis-Granum, French Aix-la-Chapelle), which got its name from warm springs, the healing properties of which were recognized already in ancient times. This city was first mentioned in a letter from Pepin, dated 754; but coins, inscriptions, baths, aqueducts and other monuments show that it has been known to the Romans since the time of Caesar. With the accession of the Carlovingian dynasty, it immediately acquired great importance, and with the fall of this dynasty it also lost its importance. Charlemagne made it his residence and built the Church of St. Mary (the only monument of Carlovingian architecture that has been completely preserved to this day) and a magnificent palace, which was connected to the church by a magnificent colonnade. In this palace, or in the Church of St. Mary, the State Council of Charlemagne met, a mixed meeting of laity and clergy convened by the emperor to discuss both ecclesiastical and civil affairs. In general, the clergy met separately to discuss church affairs and formed a synod or council, although they did not always give their meetings such a name. Let us briefly list the most important decisions of these councils. – The Council of 789, having made an extract from the laws of the Roman Empire, declared them binding also for the Frankish monarchy. —The Council of 797 repealed, at least in part, the bloody laws which had been imposed on the conquered Saxons since 785. – The Council of 798 was against the Adoptians. – At the Council of 809, an important decision was made on the issue of the procession of the Holy Spirit. Under the influence of the already widespread custom in the West of reading the Creed with the addition of the word Filioque, the council sanctified this custom by its decree; but when the resolutions of the council were submitted for approval by Pope Leo III, he did not approve this resolution and ordered the addition of the word Filioque to be excluded, thereby indicating the illegality of this innovation. – The Council of 818 finally approved the canons of the Councils of Metz, Reims, Tours, Chalons on Saone and Arelat. – At the council of 816, rules were issued about the life of canons. The rules of Chrodegang, the execution of which had hitherto been left to the will, were now made mandatory and, in addition, were expanded. Among other cathedrals, we note three more cathedrals that became famous on the occasion of the high-profile divorce case of Lothair. Lothair demanded a divorce from Theotberga on the grounds that she had been dishonored by her brother before her wedding. The bishops, wanting to please Lothair, sentenced Theotberga to church repentance and monastic imprisonment in 860. But she ran away and complained to the Pope. Meanwhile, at the council of 862, Bishops Guptar of Cologne, Theotgaud of Trier, Adventius of Metz and others finally decided to give Lothair a complete divorce and permission to marry his former mistress Waldrada. – The Council of 1165 discussed the issue of the canonization of Charlemagne. From Otto I (936) to Ferdinand I (1558), twenty-nine emperors were crowned in Aachen. By virtue of the French concordat, a bishopric was established in Aachen in 1801, of which Mark Anthony Berdolet was the first and only bishop. After various turmoil during the Napoleonic Wars, the bishopric was closed in 1821 and Aachen was added to the Archdiocese of Cologne. Currently, Aachen has up to 105 thousand inhabitants, of which 90 thousand are Roman Catholics, and the rest are Protestants and more than 1 thousand Jews. The city is famous throughout the Roman Catholic part of Germany for its shrines, among which the most famous are: the hand of the Most Holy. Mary, the swaddling clothes of Jesus Christ, His apron on the Cross, the cloth from the beheading of John the Baptist and various remains from suffering and crucifixion - part of the crown of thorns, a nail, rope, part of a sponge, etc. Even under Charlemagne, it was established that every seven years a pilgrimage be made here to worship these shrines, exhibited for two weeks from July 9 to 24, and a crowd of people still happens huge. See Quix, Geschichte von Aachen.